‘Missing’ for 40 yrs, Kerala villager turns up at Dubai hospital with bizarre story

“There is no doubt,” Haneefa says. “He remembers the names of our relatives and the smallest of incidents that happened in our village before he left — even that evening when the rumour spread that an elephant had run amok and he took my hand and we ran home. But yes, we have no idea  why he chose to disappear from our lives. Anyway, we are now taking him home.”

From what Haneefa has been able to piece together from scraps of information provided by his reclusive uncle and a close friend of his, Baputty’s life went this way: sometime around 1974-75, he reached Dubai on a ship from Mumbai, with a valid visa, and was in touch with this family for two years before fading away from their lives.

One of Baputty’s two friends in the years since then, Abdul Gafoor, picks up the story from here. “I first met him 23 years ago, two years after my brother Khalid did. We run a transport business and used to be called by the Arab in whose house Baputty worked, in the Hor al Anz area in Dubai. Khalid and I slowly came to know Baputty better during our visits and the rare trip together to the local fish market. But he was always vague whenever we asked him about his family. He used to say he was Abdulla from Malappuram.”

It’s a bizarre story, agrees Gafoor. “He was always holed up in that house. For instance, he has no idea about how Dubai has grown: he hasn’t seen or heard about the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building). But when he got admitted to hospital last month with just 1,800 dirhams in his pocket, not even enough pay the deposit of 2,000 dirhams, I thought enough was enough. I was a bit tough with him, and questioned about his family, and that’s when the truth started tumbling out.”

Gafoor immediately called Khalid, who was in Kerala at that time, who in turn reached Baputty’s house, met Haneefa’s mother Amina and confirmed the story. By now, Baputty’s story had started doing the rounds among the expat community — UAE has around 17.5 lakh Indian expats of whom 8.5 lakh are from Kerala, according to statistics provided by the Indian Consulate. “It was God’s grace that made it all happen,” says Haneefa.

However, Baputty’s story is still some way away from a happy ending. “From what my uncle has told me, his salary was 500 dirhams when he started at the Arab’s house. It’s still the same. He says he was happy there because they gave him food and a place to sleep. But that’s because he has no idea about what’s been happening in the world outside. He’s been in hospital for a month now, and the Arab has not come to visit him. Will my uncle get some financial compensation and an air ticket back home? Who knows.”

Gafoor says Baputty’s health condition is serious, too. “We first admitted him to a private hospital, but the doctor warned us that if the infection on his leg worsened, he might even lose his leg. That’s when we took him to the government hospital.”

With the minimum wage for a domestic worker in UAE fixed at 1,100 dirhams, is the Arab the villain then? Not quite, apparently.

Indian government sources said that Baputty’s employer is an old woman “who likes him and has treated him well”. “But he just didn’t want to go anywhere. He didn’t ever ask for a raise, he was just happy staying there,” the sources said.

In a statement sent to The Indian Express, the Indian Consulate in Dubai said: “As directed by Consul General of India, Anurag Bhushan, an officer from Consulate General of India had visited Abdulla Punathil Usman in the Dubai hospital where he was admitted and had conveyed to him that CGI Dubai is ready to provide further assistance required to facilitate his return back to his home in Kerala.

”Also during the officer’s interaction with Usman’s sponsor in Dubai, the sponsor affirmed to the Consulate authority that Usman never wanted to go back to India for the past 40 years and was pleased to know that he would like to go back to India now.”

But the consulate should start by telling us who will pay the hospital bill, fumes Gafoor. “When I checked last week it was over 11,000 dirhams,” he adds.

But one thing’s for sure, says Haneefa, Baputty’s story will have a happy ending. “Whatever happens, we can never abandon him now, even if everybody else does. My mother and her only other surviving sibling Moosa are waiting eagerly to see their little brother after all these years. The day after he gets discharged from hospital, we are sending him home.”